duane writes:

> hp is not in business to make you money. They are in business
> to make themselves money.

I'm not sure that even Duane believes what he's writing, but if he does, the
question then becomes: why even bother producing a product or a service? Why
not just go directly to thievery? If that sounds overblown, it's not -- if
you consider the subject of Duane's sentence slightly altered:

> Enron is not in business to make you money. They are in business
> to make themselves money.

The two sentences now become only shades of gray different from one another.

Carol has it exactly right when she writes:

> a vendor IS in the
>  business of HELPING their customers make money.  If the customer is
>  profitable, and recognizes the contribution their vendors make toward
>  assisting in the bottom line, it's far more likely that the mutual regard
>  and loyalty will prove beneficial to both of their respective bottom lines.

Every transaction has to constructed so that both parties walk away from the
table feeling they were treated fairly and received a trade that was to their
great profit. There's absolutely nothing "utopian", corny or old-fashioned
about that statement. It is simply the only way to conduct business stably
over an extended period of time.

Wirt Atmar

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